In various technological applications, it is oftentimes advantageous to sense the proximity of an object relative to a device. For example, in mobile phone applications, it may be advantageous to detect the proximity of a user's head to the phone's display, such as when the user is participating in a phone call, so that the display panel may be disabled and battery consumption thereby reduced.
One such solution for sensing the proximity of objects involves the use of an optical sensor. However, optical sensors tend to be cost-prohibitive and may be difficult to incorporate in various devices. Another solution for sensing proximity of an object involves the use of a capacitive sensor. However, conventional capacitive proximity-sensing technology is unsophisticated as it is unable to distinguish between an object held above the sensor (e.g., a user's head) and an object in contact with components of the device. For example, in mobile phone applications, a user touching the casing of the mobile phone, even at a distance from the sensor, causes the conventional capacitive proximity-sensing circuitry to incorrectly register proximity detection of an object. As such, conventional capacitive proximity-sensing technology has not been satisfactory for all conditions of use.